Indiana, Mississippi lead College Football Playoff winners and losers
- - Indiana, Mississippi lead College Football Playoff winners and losers
Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY January 2, 2026 at 12:37 AM
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Twelve has been trimmed to four as the College Football Playoff heads into the national semifinals with No. 1 seed Indiana set to meet No. 5 Oregon in the Peach Bowl and No. 6 Ole Miss matched with No. 10 Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.
The Hoosiers mauled No. 9 Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl behind another perfect game from Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, who finished with more touchdown passes, three, than incompletions, two.
The Rebels dug out of a 21-12 halftime deficit and won 39-34 against No. 3 Georgia, pulling away late with a 47-yard field goal with six seconds left.
Oregon smothered No. 4 Texas Tech 23-0 in the Orange Bowl thanks to four turnovers by the Red Raiders, including a key end-zone interception by quarterback Behren Morton in the third quarter.
In the biggest upset of this year’s tournament, Miami outmuscled No. 2 Ohio State for a 24-14 win in the Cotton Bowl, sending the defending national champions into the offseason on a two-game losing streak.
Before turning to the next round, here are the biggest winners and losers from the quarterfinals:
WinnersIndiana
They’re No. 1 in the nation for a reason. But for the doubters and cynics, this destruction of mighty Alabama makes a point that’s impossible to ignore: Indiana’s not just a great story but a potential juggernaut capable of beating the absolute snot out of any team in the tournament. More aggressive than the Tide, more physical, more composed and clearly better prepared, the Hoosiers showed zero rust after a month-long break after the Big Ten championship game. Build a time machine, go back a few years or so, find your younger self and whisper this sentence in your ear: Alabama just lost the Rose Bowl to Indiana by 35 points.
1 / 30Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade bathsDefensive back Tony-Louis Nkuba #21 of the Arizona State Sun Devils celebrates by jumping into an inflatable bowl of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes after intercepting a pass against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half of the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl game at Sun Bowl Stadium on December 31, 2025 in El Paso, TexasOle Miss
Now 2-0 without Lane Kiffin, the Rebels avenged their one regular-season loss thanks to a brilliant night from senior Trinidad Chambliss, who had 362 yards passing and two touchdowns without an interception. Down 21-12 at halftime, Ole Miss began to take over in the third quarter and then delivered two key scores early in the fourth. Along the way to the game-winning field goal, the Rebels had to deal with several questionable penalty calls (or lack thereof) and needed to regain their composure after Georgia tied the game with a minute to go. That Ole Miss continues to defy the odds really speaks to new coach Pete Golding’s work keeping the team together.
Mississippi kicker Lucas Carneiro (17) celebrates a field goal in the final seconds against Georgia in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the 2026 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.Oregon
The image of Oregon as a finesse program persists despite ample evidence to the contrary. The latest example was the Ducks’ shutout in the Orange Bowl, which saw the defense never allow the Red Raiders to come up for air in giving up just 215 yards on 3.5 yards per play. While the running game sputtered and gained just 64 yards, Oregon quarterback Dante Moore hit on 26 of 33 attempts for 234 yards. But the defense did the dirty work in this win, including not just that end-zone pick but a previous strip-sack fumble return earlier in the third quarter that set up the Ducks’ first touchdown.
Miami
The way Miami beat Ohio State matters. Going up against a team many expected to repeat and a defense that ranked first nationally in the major categories, the Hurricanes dictated the tempo and the tone by dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. That was embodied during a five-minute drive late in the fourth quarter that helped Miami bury the Buckeyes. Matchups also matter in the postseason, and Miami might’ve met a friendly opponent in Ohio State’s slower playing style. But there’s no question after the Cotton Bowl that the Hurricanes have the ability to win two more games and the program’s first national championship since 2001.
LosersAlabama
Alabama hadn’t lost by 30 or more points since 1998. The Crimson Tide were so clearly the inferior team – in talent, coaching, drive, toughness – that the 35-point loss wasn’t surprising, necessarily speaking. But that doesn’t make this any less embarrassing: After fighting back from 17 points down to beat Oklahoma in the opening round, Alabama never even put up a whisper of an argument against the Hoosiers and seemed happy to shut things down early in the second half and look toward next season. This was the program’s seventh loss in two years under coach Kalen DeBoer after dropping nine games across Nick Saban’s final six seasons.
Ohio State
There’s a question to be asked about how good Ohio State was, really, after losing to Indiana and Miami in its final two games. Yeah, the Buckeyes beat Texas, but that was in the season opener. Their next-best win came against Michigan. The defense was terrific all year but couldn’t get key stops against Miami, especially with the game on the line. The offensive line was great until these past two games, giving up five sacks to both Indiana and Miami after just six in the first 12 games. While plenty of talent is coming back to Columbus, Ohio State has to speed things up offensively after playing too sluggishly this season.
Georgia
The Bulldogs seemed on the verge of delivering a knockout blow coming out of the half after a 21-point second quarter. To give back the game at that point underlines Georgia’s unpredictability even during a 12-1 regular season, especially with an offense that was better running the ball than in 2024 but often unable to put teams away. Georgia will be haunted by a great scoring opportunity late in the game, with the Rebels up 34-31: Second-and-goal at the 3-yard line turned into fouth-and-6 and the game-tying field goal instead of the go-ahead score. To not get six points was out of character for a team that came into the Sugar Bowl ranked third in the country with a 79.3% touchdown rate in the red zone.
The Big 12
The Orange Bowl was a bad look for the Big 12, which joined the ACC in sending just one team into the tournament but had that team ejected right off the bat while Miami has already claimed two playoff wins. The loss also comes after a postseason where Big 12 teams had earned bowl victories against teams from the ACC, SEC and the Big Ten. This still goes down as a banner season for Texas Tech despite the ugly way things ended against Oregon, though it’s clear the Red Raiders will need to reopen the pocketbooks to compile another playoff-worthy roster next season.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College Football Playoff winners, losers from quarterfinals
Source: “AOL Sports”
